Jeff wrote:The reflex is an only child he's waiting by the park.The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark.And watching over lucky clover isn't that bizarre?Every little thing the reflex doesLeaves you answered with a question mark.

Never did like that particular tune, although a bunch of songs from their catalog belong in the "guilty pleasures" category from my youth . . . .

Great news on having a Reflex for Jamestown. Whoopee for more new stuff to try.

I'm looking forward to seeing y'all again in a few weeks. I've been flying my Revs a lot (weather permitting) and practicing my fuzzy tail off. Hopefully my skills have progressed enough to fly some Mega with the team this year.

goestoeleven wrote:Hmmm.....I seem to have found one on my recent business trip; it is team colors..... But will live in my kite bag.

I was in Poway on business. Impulse purchase.... Hard to say no when you are standing in the candy store. I might bring it to ND if the team kite hasn't arrived yet.

I've just calculated the odds of anyone living in the US having to be in Poway, CA on business. The odds are amazingly only 137,893,342 : 1. So, unless your business involves buying a revolution kite . . . . .

MARK

"...it's a fair wind blowin' warm, out of the south over my shoulder, guess I'll set a course and go." CSN&Y

I have a client with an office a few miles from rev, as it turns out. I stopped at rev on my way to the client the first day, then snuck out for a bit to visit the toy store on my second day to pick up some spare parts. Couldn't hold back on buying when I saw the IKE/180Go colors on my second stop. Was doing pretty good on self control up to that point.

Tried out the new kite today in bumpy light winds on short lines (about 40 ft). It's interesting and different than a 1.5. Not as truck-like as the Rev 1, not quite as agile as the 1.5, but that's to be expected since it's about halfway between in sail size. I think I need more time on the handles to really appreciate the differences, and some smoother light wind. It would also help if I set up a 1.5 and a 1 or a zen for side by side comparison, but I did not have time for that today.

Pluses so far:- Flies really far out to the edges of the window and even a bit beyond 90 degrees overhead. I could float up overhead pretty easily. - Can launch even if it falls face forward due to the sail curvature.- I found the "normal" inverted launch to be smooth, again I think due to the curve in the sail helping to get it into a normal flight angle- Leading edge is doubled at the ends for wear resistance, like the B-pros and other higher end Revs- New end cap design should be slightly less likely to snag - they slide into the rods vs. being an exterior cap. It's made of a different kind of plastic, and I think it's machined (not injection molded). - Powered up, feels quite a bit like a "normal" rev. Even seemed a bit "faster" to me, but that could be the short lines.- Very floaty if you lose the wind at the top of the window or want to gain ground flying down / inverted.- Frame was pretty stiff - rods are a bit larger diameter than standard rods.- Pretty light for the size of the kite.

Other notes - - It was impossible to do a catch and throw, which is something I like to do when I'm flying short lines in light wind. I could not get it to fall to me no matter how hard I tried - it would recover and float downwind, but would not fall to me. Of course, this is one of the key things Rev was trying to achieve with the design of the kite, but for me it means I'm not as likely to fly it on short lines. It may be better for long lines in light wind, which is better for group flying.- It may not hold position inverted at the top of the window as high up as a standard sail. That's a move that I practice since we have to do it a fair bit in team flying for ball and burst. The reflex spring changes the sail shape when it's lightly loaded, and that's a spot where you are lightly loaded unless the wind is blowing. I think it's a side effect of the design. This is something that I'll have to try out again in smoother winds. - Rods are not interchangeable with other Revs due to the length and diameter differential (at least not with the 1.5). Haven't looked at the Rev 1 rods, but I doubt they'd fit either.- Leading edge was tight - probably the brand new bungies. It was tough to get the outer rods on the center ferrules. In some ways, it felt like the tightness of the speed series kites - where the leading edge sail curves out towards you when it's not loaded by the wind because the bungies are so tight. - The larger size meant that it seemed to require a bit more input than a 1.5. A bit slower to respond, and a bit more "pop" needed to load and unload the sail. That's to be expected based on the size difference.- I did not try any axels, but I'm guessing they may be tougher to do and/or may require slightly different inputs to get it flat and around. The kite really wants to go into a falling leaf / floating mode when you get it horizontal to the ground, and the "reflex" is designed to get it to catch the wind and flip back to flying.

Overall, it was fun to fly. I'll need to spend more time on the handles to see if it becomes my "go to" light wind kite vs. pulling out an SUL or full sail 1.5. Probably will depend on the style of flying I plan to do and also whether or not I'm with other people. Perhaps I'll be on the Reflex when flying with other people or chilling out, and 1.5 if I'm planning on catch/throws and a more interactive short line flying style.

Also just re-read the earlier reviews from Jeff & Mike. I think we're all finding the same things.

Just wanted to add that I also needed to add more brake, just like Mike Kory found out at Kite Party. I had to find the right knot - I started three knots further out than I was using Sunday on my mid-vent mesh, but I had to come in one knot after my first adjustment as it was just too much brake (could barely get airborne). I think it may be more sensitive than the 1.5 to the brake settings on the handle as I noticed a big difference between the knots (and I'm usually not that observant about the brake setting differences).

Yeah, that's what I figured. Did you just flip the rods around, or did you have a second set of rods without the springs? I haven't tried removing the springs - maybe they just slide out. I probably wouldn't want to have the springs on the back if I wasn't using them.

Springs on the verticals are nothing new to Rev. The Power Blast 4-8 has six verticals & the four inner ones have springs. They are adjustable even. The big sail is pushed out by the springs when no load is on the sail to give it the shape to aid gliding. When the sail loads up, boy does it load up, the springs flex & allow the sail to flatten against the frame & generate power as the sail cups & accelerates across the window. You can adjust the spring tension lighter to flatten out the sail more quickly or heavier to prolong the air foil shape. The kite will pull pretty hard even near the top of the window but when you reach the zenith it will glide behind you until you do a 180 sending it gliding back downwind on slack lines as it loses altitude. When it reaches the end of the lines it snaps back into flying position, the springs collapse & it's powered up once more. If you ever get to fly one of these rare kites you should do it. A completely different Rev for sure. But I digress, SHBKF